A Mediterranean diet during pregnancy is associated with lower risk of accelerated growth for the child

News from ISGlobal

Pregnant women that follow a Mediterranean diet have a lower risk of having children with an accelerated growth pattern (i.e. a high birth weight and an accelerated weight gain in childhood), which could lead to a higher risk of obesity later on. This is the main conclusion of a study, published in The Journal of Pediatrics, coordinated by the ISGlobal.

The Mediterranean diet is characterised by a high content of fruits, vegetables, olive oil, legumes and nuts. This healthy diet pattern has been associated with lower obesity and cardiometabolic risk in adults, but few studies have focused on children. Now, ISGlobal performed a study with data of over 2.700 spanish pregnant women.

The results show that pregnant women with higher adherence to the Mediterranean diet had a 32% lower risk of having children with an accelerated growth pattern, as compared to offspring of women that did not follow such diet.